Hornets on the Kephart Trail

I woke up and loaded up my backpacking pack and drove back to the park. I stopped at Mingus Mill where there was a working mill that still ground corn flour for visitors to buy. I talked with the man there whose family had lived in the area for generations and milled flour. There is much history in the area.

I drove to Gatlinsburg, TN just to check it out. It is a very touristy town that is very commercial. I then drove back into the park to do my backpacking hike. I started on the Kephart trail and went uphill the whole way to my campsite. It was such a verdant beautiful view of the streams and overlooks. It is a rain forest for how much precipitation it receives in a year and I felt it when I was deep in to the mountains. I didn’t see any one the whole time. I did run into a hornets nest and got stung many times, but the pain went away about an hour later. I did get very sore and tired during this hike.